According to a recent survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
